INTERVIEW: Tom Bayliss Reflects On His Memorable Debut

The Sky Blues got back to winning ways this weekend, when they bounced back to pick up three points at the Ricoh Arena against Cheltenham Town.

Tom Bayliss got things off to a fantastic start for himself, when he found the back of the net on his full debut after just two minutes and then after a Cheltenham equaliser, Marc McNulty secured the win, in the second half.

Bayliss had featured in cup competitions of the bench this season, but to make his first start for City, he was absolutely delighted with the 90 minutes he had.

He said “It’s a dream come true to make my first start in front of the home fans and I’ve been at the club since the age of 12, so to make my full debut and to score after two minutes was a brilliant feeling.

“I found out I was starting Friday morning. We had a team meeting and the gaffer pulled me into his office and said how does that make you feel and I said I’m looking forward to it, I’m feeling confident and obviously I train with the lads every day so I know them inside out so it was a good feeling.

“It was a tough game, they were physical and it’s different to under 23s football and what I’ve experienced before but it was a good challenge and for the team to get three points at the end of it was the most important thing.

“You could feel the tempo difference to what I’ve played before, but after that I settled into the game and I thought as a team we did well.

“It’s all about helping the team win and we’ve got to get higher up in the league and let’s push for promotion.

“It’s only one game, I’ve got to keep working hard, training hard, and working with the gaffer and the players.”

This season, there have been several youngsters establish themselves in the first team and make their debut throughout so far.

When Tom stepped on to the Ricoh, he admitted he didn’t expect to open the scoring after just over sixty seconds.

“Just before the game, Willis said to me to be confident and the ball has just rolled to me and I’ve hit it and it’s took a deflection, but it’s definitely my goal.

“As soon as it looped up and then dipped under the bar, I didn’t really know what to do to be fair and it’s just a big plus.

“Seeing shippers do so well just makes you hungrier and to get my chance to play alongside him today was good and he gave me a big hug when I scored because I’ve known him for a long time.”